Content warning: This article contains brief mentions of sexual assault and rape.
Disappointment. That’s the first emotion that flooded through my body when I woke up on November 6th and realized that Donald Trump had won the presidential election. Soon after, my body was swarmed with a plethora of emotions: sadness, anger, confusion, frustration, shock, more sadness, fear, desperation, disgust, even more sadness.
We as a country had the opportunity to make history by electing our first female president. Instead, we elected a racist felon who has 27 sexual assault allegations against him, even being charged of sexual abuse. A man who incited so much violence on January 6th because he lost the 2020 election that several people died and were sent to the hospital, only for him to defend it as an “act of love”. We have elected a man who has said such disgusting and vile things about women, such as saying that we should “grab em by the pussy”.
Writing that all down feels like such a joke; I feel like I’m reciting an episode of Family Guy or some other raunchy sitcom, but unfortunately, this is our reality.
On November 5th, I woke up with hope. I’d been tracking the polls for a few weeks and had seen that Kamala was slightly ahead, and I spent my entire day watching the news and tracking the votes. I thought there was no way that our country would re-elect Donald Trump given the person that he is, the things he’s said, and the damage that he’s inflicted on our country.
Later in the evening, as I saw more and more states turn red, I started to lose hope and my body began to fill with pure anxiety and stress. When Georgia turned red, I sobbed. I realized that there was realistically no chance that Kamala would win, and that Donald Trump had somehow won the 2024 presidential election. I cried myself to sleep, having a dream that Kamala won the electoral votes and would become the next president of the United States.
I woke up on November 6th happy, not realizing that my dream of Kamala winning was just that: a dream. It wasn’t until I went on Instagram and saw posts declaring Donald Trump’s victory that I realized the truth. Our country has elected Donald Trump, an openly racist, transphobic, and sexist man, who says such demeaning things about minorities that I wouldn’t even feel comfortable repeating his statements to my parents, who has also sexually assaulted and harassed countless women. We have elected him as president, over a fully qualified woman.
I’ve had people tell me that this isn’t an act of misogyny, but I fully disagree. Both times he ran against women, he won. The one time he was against a man, he lost. Sensing a trend here? Trump only wins when he runs against women. This is not a “coincidence”, but it is pure and simple misogyny that continues to exist in 2024. I’ve seen videos of people happily saying that we’ll never have a female president, and this just feels so discouraging to hear.
As an elementary education major, how am I supposed to tell my students that they can be anything they want when they grow up and that boys and girls are equal when they honestly aren’t, and I don’t think they ever will be?
As a student, how am I supposed to not be terrified anytime I step into the classroom knowing that the man we have elected has no plans to prevent gun violence whatsoever, and that he only wants to loosen gun laws?
As a sexual assault survivor, how am I supposed to believe that my voice has power when we’ve elected a man to be President of the United States when he has over two dozen sexual assault reports against him?
As a woman, how am I supposed to feel safe knowing that the man who is going to rule our country has said that he will protect women, “whether they want it or not”?
As a daughter, how am I supposed to be comfortable when the man that was just chosen to be President has made various sexual comments about his daughter, including fantasies about what it would be like to have sex with her?
How am I supposed to feel like I can accomplish anything as a woman when it has been proven time and time again to be impossible for women to step into major roles of power?
I spent so much of my week grieving. I cried when I woke up and saw that Trump was elected. I cried driving to math class. I cried while being tutored. I cried watching political TikToks with my friend. I cried seeing an Instagram post about young children being forced to give birth after being raped because they couldn’t access an abortion. I cried myself to sleep after reading about the things that Trump has said about women. I cried in the middle of class when the election was brought up, to the point where my professor asked me to sit next to her during our group discussion while she rubbed my back. I cried writing this article. Every time I’m reminded of the state of our country, I feel so sad knowing that we’ve gotten to this point, and I can’t help but cry in fear and desperation.
I’ve been told that I’m being “dramatic” by being upset and crying about the election results. So Democrats can’t cry but Republicans are allowed to storm the Capitol when their candidate loses? Got it…
It’s currently November, and it is 75 degrees outside. And we have elected a man who doesn’t believe in climate change and has absolutely no plans whatsoever to help save our planet.
We have also elected a man who has no plans to give women their reproductive rights back, and this is something that’s been really scary for me as a college woman. Trump being re-elected, further confirming the fact that women have permanently lost their reproductive rights, has brought men to say the phrase “Your body, my choice,”.
Before you ask who that is, I’ll inform you. That’s Nick Fuentes, white supremacist Holocaust denier, and also Trump’s latest dinner party invite. Can you comprehend how terrifying this is? How have we managed to elect a man who supports ideals like this? As the caption says, it was never about abortion, but it has always been about having control over women.
As a white woman, I’m able to acknowledge the privilege I hold, and I can’t even imagine what it must be like being a person of color after these election results. Spam texts have been sent out to minorities after Trump won, referring to the recipients as “slaves”. I cannot even fathom this in all honesty.
In all honesty, I am just so disappointed in our country. I’m disappointed that we failed women and minorities nationwide, and that the majority of our country has voted for Donald Trump, who has proven time and time again that he is incredibly unqualified and just a terrible person in all.
People in other countries have been posting about how aghast they are at the result of the election; how they’re praying for us in horror. I’ve had friends in other countries post about how horrifying this is, and that even though they don’t live in the United States, they can still acknowledge the fact that Donald Trump is a terrible person with unjust ideals who should not have been elected president. If people in other countries are sending thoughts and prayers, shouldn’t this be saying something?
I’ve spent so much time just sitting and staring at this article, trying to figure out what more to write. I’ve pushed the publication date back three times at this point because I just feel so strongly about this, yet I can’t quite figure out how to get it out.
I have so many feelings and emotions, and I feel as though no amount of words or writing can accurately depict how disgusted and upset I feel at the results of the election.
Although Kamala didn’t win the presidential election, it is important to recognize the impact that she made on our country in just a few short months, proving that while it may not be possible just yet for a woman to be president, women are in fact capable of great things.
As Kamala Harris said in her concession speech (because she’s mature enough to admit that she lost, rather than being in denial and trying to convince the country that the election was rigged), “The light of America’s promise will always burn bright as long as we never give up and as long as we keep fighting…
“I will never give up the fight for a future where Americans can pursue their dreams, ambitions, and aspirations. Where the women of America have the freedom to make decisions about their own body and not have their government telling them what to do. We will never give up the fight to protect our schools and our streets from gun violence. And America we will never give up the fight for our democracy, for the rule of law, for equal justice, and for the sacred idea that every one of us, no matter who we are or where we start out, has certain fundamental rights and freedoms that must be respected and upheld.
“And we will continue to wage this fight in the voting booth, in the courts and in the public square. And we will also wage it in quieter ways: in how we live our lives by treating one another with kindness and respect, by looking in the face of a stranger and seeing a neighbor, by always using our strength to lift people up, to fight for the dignity that all people deserve. The fight for our freedom will take hard work. But, like I always say, we like hard work. Hard work is good work. Hard work can be joyful work. And the fight for our country is always worth it. It is always worth it. To the young people who are watching, it is okay to feel sad and disappointed. But please know it’s going to be okay.
“On the campaign, I would often say when we fight, we win. But here’s the thing, here’s the thing, sometimes the fight takes a while. That doesn’t mean we won’t win. That doesn’t mean we won’t win. The important thing is don’t ever give up. Don’t ever give up. Don’t ever stop trying to make the world a better place. You have power. You have power. And don’t you ever listen when anyone tells you something is impossible because it has never been done before.”
I hope y’all enjoy your cheaper gas, because our country is absolutely f*cked.